Alexander Gregor Pennie (born 14 December 1985) is a musician who was previously in the band

The Automatic The Automatic (also known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S.) were a Welsh rock band. The band's final lineup was composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesisers, James Frost on guitar, synthesisers and backing vocals, Iwan Gri ...

from the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, where he provided unclean vocals as well as playing

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

s for the act. Pennie left The Automatic in late 2007. Since then he has been in other bands, the latest of which was the Goodtime Boys, which disbanded in 2015.

Musical career

The Automatic (2004–2007)

Alex Pennie joined The Automatic in 2004 as backing vocalist and keyboard player after the band rebranded themselves The Automatic, after previously being known as White Rabbit. Pennie's unique vocal style and energetic live performances became trademark signatures of The Automatic. During his time in The Automatic Pennie was featured on

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

, and with bandmate

Robin Hawkins Robin Hawkins (born 11 February 1986) is a British musician, best known as a member of Welsh band The Automatic. Personal life Rob studied at Cowbridge#Schools, Cowbridge Comprehensive School, completing his A-levels and going on to take a chanc ...

stood in for

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. He also took on lead vocal responsibilities on the band's cover of "Gold Digger" by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

and "Epic" by Faith No More. With writing commencing on the band's second album, Pennie was finding being in the band ''"increasingly unenjoyable"'', and after completing the Not Accepted Anywhere album tour, he left the band, playing his final date at Get Loaded in the Park on 25 August 2007.

Decimals (2008–2009)

After leaving the band Pennie moved for a short time to the US where he was supposedly working with a new punk band. However, months later his new project was announced: an indie-electro band Decimals, for which Pennie provides lead vocals. Decimals lasted till late 2009.

Goodtime Boys (2009–2015)

The were founded in 2009, a British punk–emo band, consisting of Alexander (vocals), Casey McHale (drums), Samuel Phipps (guitar), Lewis Johns (guitar) and Leigh McAndrew (bass). The group released their debut album ''What's Left to Let Me Go'' in 2012 on Bridge Nine Records. They previously published two EPs: "Are We Now, Or Have We Ever Been" (2011, Tangled Talk Records) and "Every Landscape" (2012, Bridge Nine Records). In 2013 they made a joint EP with the American emo band Self Defense Family on Palm Reader Records. The second album ''Rain'' was released in May 2014. The group toured Europe with

Landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

, More Than Life,

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...

and

Defeater A defeater of a belief is evidence that this belief is false. Defeaters are of particular interest to epistemology because they affect whether a belief is justified. An important distinction is between undercutting and rebutting defeaters. Under ...

. On 6 January 2015, the group announced its dissolution.

Equipment

Roland Juno-106 The Roland Juno-106 is a synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in February 1984. Features The Juno-106 is a polyphonic synthesizer with six voices. It is an analog synthesizer but with digitally controlled oscillators and chorus effects. ...

* Alesis Micron * Alesis Andromeda

Discography

With

*'' Not Accepted Anywhere'' - 19 June 2006 - vocals/keys *''Gold Digger'', ''Easy Target'', ''Epic'', ''Time=Money'', ''Jack Daniels'', ''Song6'', ''Trophy Wives'', ''High Tide on Caroline Street'', ''Night Drive'' *''Steve McQueen'' and ''Revolution'' original recordings With Yourcodenameis:milo *'' Print Is Dead Vol 1'' - Trapeze Artist - (2006) - vocals With Decimals *''Something'', ''Dead End Kids'', ''Shout and Sing'', ''Retreat'', ''Want Want Need'', "Fireflies" - Lead vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennie, Alex 1985 births Living people The Automatic members British rock keyboardists People from Cowbridge